Trust is for Fools
by American Zombie
Summary: Zombies!AU. In a lawless apocalypse, Azula and Mai bend fire, slit throats and show no mercy on their journey to find Zuko and Iroh. But when they get stuck sharing the shelter of a cabin with Ty Lee and her husband, Azula comes to find that she would rather face the undead than her feelings.
1. Never Wake Up in the Zombie Apocalypse

**AN:** I originally wrote this for Tyzula Week, then I lost interest after writing bits and pieces of the story. I felt like it was a dead end idea, but suddenly my creative juices started flowing again. :D

* * *

 **TRUST IS FOR FOOLS**

 _"The last remedy of all is war, which provideth for every man, by victory or death."  
\- Thomas Hobbes -_

* * *

 **Chapter One: Never Wake Up in the Zombie Apocalypse**

* * *

 _"You were born lucky," father said so many years ago. "Your brother was lucky to be born."_

Azula, at the moment, was wondering if she would have been lucky to _not_ have been born. Mostly because she had just woken up to the most excruciating pain she had experienced in her life. She clenched her fist and tried to recall why her side was in pain. When she moved her other hand to touch the wound, she remembered that she had hastily cauterized it herself.

She was lucky not to have gotten an infection.

She was luckier not to have gotten bitten and _infected_ while passed out.

Last she was awake, she and Mai were in over their heads with a gang of bounty hunters her own father had sent after them. The sky was brilliant blue and Mai's aim was flawless, but it did not protect them in the end. She was ninety-nine percent certain that she was still dying at the moment.

If she did not die tonight, she would be found by either the dead or the living, and both were equally hungry for her. She was in enemy territory, wounded, and the perfect gambit for anyone who wanted to use her against her father.

Azula blinked a few times and looked around. She suddenly understood her warmth despite the cold; she was in the bed of a stationary and likely long defunct truck. Azula had seen exactly two cars work in her entire life, and she was betting that this one was not some magical exception.

"Mai," she croaked without thinking. That was stupid. That was _insanely_ stupid.

But, while battling a fatal wound while in some strange truck and too tired and dizzy to even look around, she decided if she had to rely on Mai or rely on that elusive _luck_ her father told her fables about, she would rely on Mai.

She heard footsteps outside of the truck, and they were not as heavy as one of the _creatures_. They were very _light_... abnormally light and that bothered her to the core.

"Is she waking up?" asked a girl's voice. It was girlish and pretty; she did not sound as hardened as most people in the Wasteland outside of civilization were. "Is she? Are you even sure about this forest stuff?"

A gruff male voice responded, add a sigh before saying, "The forest is better than here. It's on the road to Ba Sing Se."

They were running _to_ Ba Sing Se, like so many people who heard stories of the impenetrable city still being impenetrable. Azula was running _from_ Ba Sing Se, like so many people who learned what it was actually like on the inside.

She remained as silent as she could be.

"We should just go back to the highway."

"We didn't have the best luck on the highway."

"I know but..." The girl trailed off.

They would be idiots to travel on main roads, even if they were currently in unclaimed land. Unless there were more than two of them, which Azula did not like the sound of, despite knowing she could dominate them if need be.

Alright, maybe that was either delusional or pushing her luck. There very well could be twenty tribals or nomads outside of this abysmal open casket.

Azula whimpered as she sat up, pressing her hand against the burn. It should heal fast, given her firebending, but that did not make the pain much better. Nor the pain in her head. She crawled towards the edge of the truck, keeping below the walls around her, and peered over the side.

A young man and young woman, the man probably a bit older than her, and the woman around the same age. They were not dressed in distinguishable tribal clothes, and Azula considered the idea that they could be outcasts like she and Mai. She was not sure if that would make matters better or worse.

She was kind of an enemy of every tribe there was. The one she was born into, the Agni Kai Tribe, was on the _hunt_ for her after her escape. The ones who were at war for resources and ideology with the other tribes were the Red Monsoons and the Terra Tribe. The Air Nomads were more of a myth at this point; nobody believed in pacifists when war was the only way to eat. Triple Threats were not much of a threat; they were composed of people who were not worthy to fit into another faction.

Outcasts, though, outcasts Azula had no idea how to deal with, but at least she knew they had no faction rivalry.

The young man had a gun strapped to his back, but Azula could tell from how he leaned much closer to the advantageously bent machete at his side that he had no ammo. Not to mention the risk of setting off a gun in the middle of this territory; that would be as a stupid as lightning, but without the potential of setting off a fire.

The young woman had a small knife tucked into her belt, but she did not look remotely ready for battle. Her clothes were too fashionable, too _old world_ , and her expression was somehow soft.

Azula's foot scuffed against the metal and she clenched her jaw. _No_.

They both snapped to attention and looked up at her.

"She's awake," the girl said, and Azula noticed just how pretty she was. She also noticed that she was not getting the most favorable gaze from the girl's companion. "You wanna...?"

The man takes initiative to do whatever she was suggesting. "What are you?" he demanded of Azula as he raised his machete. It really _was_ bent and Azula wondered if that was accidental or on purpose.

She hesitated, looking around for Mai. Azula's sole friend _had_ to be around here somewhere. Except... Mai _was_ selfish, and that fact worried Azula to too far of an extent.

" _Zombie_ ," Azula replied and her eyes dared him to take a swing. "Can't you see my decaying flesh? Evidently since I'm alone out here in _their land_ I must be either one of them or an outcast from my faction."

The pretty girl pursed her lips before talking, "She's wearing Agni Kai Tribal clothes. I told you that when we found her."

"Long way from Ba Sing Se?" he asked with his cobalt eyes narrowed and Azula shrugged.

"Isn't that where you're trying to get?" She hid her relief when she looked out across the many frozen cars on the long stretch of decaying highway and saw the best sight she could imagine at the time. It was Mai, pulling back the string of a bow. "What are you then?"

The pretty girl talked yet again. She was too trusting for her own good, in Azula's opinion. "I used to be from the Agni Kai Tribe too but then I got..." She shook her head. "He's from the Triple Threats but he got attacked by Terra Tribals and left for dead. We're together, okay?"

It was a lie. Or at least partially so, and Azula knew it.

"When was that?" Azula asked, looking them both up and down. They looked too cozy for opposing factions who collided in the wilderness.

"Three years ago, okay?" the pretty girl said, looking increasingly nervous. "Behind us!" she called out, and she dove down, pressing her hand against the rock as her annoying boyfriend stumbled. Azula bent out of the way of the arrow, agape in shock.

Nobody had ever predicted that; and nobody could have dodged a shot that precise. It was luck, Azula decided. It was just dumb luck. The man stood up much more quickly than his wife, and he held up his blunt weapon as if it would do much good against a woman with Mai's precision... and distance from him.

Mai was pulling back another arrow when Azula jumped from the rocks and inhaled sharply from the pain. She knew she needed to get out of here before these idiots caused a ruckus and got all three of them eaten alive.

Azula was wrong; the young man was not out of bullets, because he fired a quick shot in Mai's general direction. No one could blame him for panicking and not taking his time, yet blame did not matter when Azula could already feel the prickling sensation on her skin.

They were never alone. Not in this crushed, fucked world.

The sound came moments before all four of them began running towards the forest. It was this rasping, almost like the screams of an animal, but far from it at the same time. Azula never was used to it, even if it was all she had ever known. There were not many of the gnarled, fast, _too fast_ creatures at first, but, of course, their friends found out about the potential prey.

The dash into the forest while being pursued by the creatures that seemed to materialize out of thin air and run with no need to feel the pain or exertion of a living body was far from a stupid move, but they had a chance of being bottlenecked into something worse, of course. Mai caught up with Azula as she fumbled around for the straight razor in her jacket.

The man and his wife ran too, and the woman was clearly trained in something more delicate and complex than basic combat, because the way she moved made it seem like time stood still, and every tree and rock was an advantage and not an obstacle.

Azula dodged an arrow swerving her way, and she saw that it was not Mai's. Mostly because Mai was shoving Azula into something flat and hard. Azula gasped and looked over her shoulder as she shoved Mai off of her, not even caring that she was being pushed in the general direction of monsters.

It was Red Monsoon Tribals. _Fuck_.

"Go around the back. There has to be a back door of this place," Mai hissed, seizing Azula's hand, slightly disgruntled about being pushed into zombie jaw territory.

They ran across the overgrown plants and raced to the back door.

 _Dead Inside_...

Azula frowned at the sight of it. She had been told to avoid those signs, _but_ , those signs were nearly twenty years old. Would it hurt so badly to ignore it... if she were careful?

The girl and guy had caught up to them and clearly decided to ignore the sign, because they burst inside, the stench of mildew assaulting Azula's nose. Then she saw just why they were in such a hurry; there was an all out fight breaking out between the throwing spears and bows and waterbending of the Red Monsoon tribals and the pack of zombie hunters.

Mai grabbed Azula again, and Azula resisted the urge to bite her, before they followed the two strangers inside before they could be seen by predators living or dead.

Azula closed the door and melted the metal latches as a half-decent brand of barricade. She and Mai looked up, catching their breath, and saw the problem with hiding in this boarded up petite cabin.

They were stuck. They were stuck in a cabin with these two strangers who were as untrustworthy as people get in Azula's eyes.

Just her luck. Ugh. The Universe never did let her catch a break.

* * *

Ty Lee had never expected to go beyond the walls of the Agni Kai Tribe settlement she had grown up in. It felt so safe in there; she never had to think about warring factions, or the ravenous dead that had created the warring factions. She was protected by her town, her government and her family.

Then she had nobody. Suddenly, it was all gone, yanked out from under her. She had nothing to do, nowhere to turn, nothing to gain but so much to lose.

The sound of the battle outside was enough to knock dust off of the thick boards nailed to the windows. But the sound of two other people than Sokka breathing was much more disturbing.

They were in a silent, unacknowledged stand-off. No one liked sharing shelter; Ty Lee had learned that after being an outcast for so long. _And_ she and Sokka kind of did something similar to kidnapping the gorgeous gold eyed girl.

"I'm going to find the booze," Ty Lee declared, grabbing her small knife and walking off with light footsteps. She escaped the awkward situation and neither of the intimidating girls paid her any mind; Ty Lee had never looked like a threat, even after she had shown off a little bit of her adjusted martial arts.

No one in the cabin seemed to bother that she was going into the depths of a cabin alone, but it was better than getting caught in the crossfire.

Ty Lee had the firm thought in her mind of locating a few drinks, and maybe food that was not already claimed by one duo or the other. She was well aware that the _Dead Inside_ scrawled on the door was very, very far from encouraging; there was definitely at least _one_ in here. But there were much more outside, and probably with at least one bloodthirsty faction just waiting to stumble across the mess.

Unless they had gotten ruined. It was old. This place was monumentally old.

Ty Lee pushed open the doors of the bedrooms and one bathroom and found them to be gross and decrepit as anything else outside of her well built town, and then found a small dining room. There; there was a cabinet.

She walked towards it before she heard the sound of moving feet and had to grab onto her mouth to keep herself from screaming. Ty Lee quickly spun around, ready to fight for her life against a beast much stronger than her, but...

Instead she saw two little kittens.

Ty Lee laughed.

Their tiny bodies had bloated tummies, and they looked at her hopefully. Ty Lee saw that, and knelt in front of the kitties to help them find food.


	2. Factionless

**Chapter Two: Factionless**

* * *

 _Mother looks so disappointed. Azula does not care._

 _"This world was made for you. You belong here," she says weakly, as if that is devastating to her._

 _Mother always thought Azula was a worse creature than the undead. A psychopath. Deplorable. A little girl; she is twelve at the moment._

 _"I was born in this world. Of course I do," Azula says coldly, even though she knows that is not what her mother meant by the comment._

 _The strong reign over the weak; that is what happens when anarchy becomes order._

 _Azula is the strong._

 _Her mother is the weak._

 _That must be the reason that she looks at her daughter so sadly._

* * *

Ty Lee was divorced from her faction a month ago.

It had been very formal. They gave her a weapon, let her pack, and let her walk away. She is sixteen years old and already factionless. She was stupid enough to travel on the main road, and she would have gotten killed if Sokka hadn't saved her.

With a boomerang of all things.

She got together with him; he was looking for his sister. She got divorced from the Red Monsoons and even though he was clean, he went looking for her. Probably in Ba Sing Se, everybody said, and so they have been heading to Ba Sing Se.

Ty Lee now has kittens with her, and has located kitty food that has not been opened. She smiles brightly because it is the best moment she has had in a long time. They mewl at her and gently claw at her until she sets them up with something to eat. She kneels and starts petting the cutest one.

"You can't just wander," says Sokka bluntly. The kittens twitch with fear but do not abandon their meal. "I've told you that about a thousand times. Those are adorable, yes, but this house had a really bad sign on the door, and outside we have both zombies and Red Monsoons to deal with."

"I'm not going to let kittens starve." Ty Lee then sighs. "I know I should've told you. To be honest, though, I'm more worried about those two in here than anything out there."

Sokka rubs his face. "I am too. They're sleazy and I don't trust them for a second."

"Maybe they like kittens. Everybody likes kittens," Ty Lee chimes and he looks about to groan or say something sarcastic before a thought occurs to him.

"That would be a great distraction. Kittens are a good distraction to make sure they don't stab us in the back," Sokka says and Ty Lee grins. He really is smart, and she likes that.

They do turn out to like kittens, and a few minutes later the paranoid quartet sits in a circle around the adorable cats.

"Oh, we need to name them."

"We'll get attached if we name them."

"We're bringing them with us. We're not bringing you two," Ty Lee says fiercely and Azula smirks at her. Ugh.

"You're cute. I didn't know you could bite like that."

"You've known me for two hours," Ty Lee says before pulling Fluffy onto her lap. "This one is named Fluffy because he has the most fur."

"Could we have one?" Azula asks and Ty Lee is startled. "What? This one likes me."

It _is_ rubbing against her contentedly. The third will be Sokka's. And then there will be a happy kitten family.

"Only if you name it," Ty Lee teases.

Sokka stiffens at her familiarity with the enemy.

"Lucky. I'm going to name him Lucky," Azula says and Mai's eyes glint. Ty Lee wonders why that is so funny to them. "He's lucky he was found and fed."

"Perfect name!" Ty Lee says blithely.

* * *

"Why are you so bubbly?" Azula asks Ty Lee as she finishes boarding up the small room that the quartet intends to share for one night. "Don't you even see the world around you?"

"I was born into this world. I bet you were too. And, I was born into a world that needs to be a little cheerier. It can be such a _downer_ to see this stuff out here, so people need an _upper_ in order to keep optimistic," Ty Lee explains as if that makes any sense. Azula does not get it.

"And you consider yourself that upper?" Azula bitterly asks. Ty Lee's soft smile does not falter.

"Yes. Somebody's gotta do it."

"Right. There were things I felt positive about when I was still in Ba Sing Se. Things changed," Azula says. She finishes the last wall and sits down with her back against it.

"You guys are bandits, aren't you?" Ty Lee asks softly.

"That doesn't matter to you," Azula replies.

"You guys hurt people for fun."

Azula will admit that. "Yes. Yes, we do."

"Oh."

They do not exchange another word.

Ty Lee takes her little Fluffy on her lap and curls up on the blankets she laid out. She uses her backpack as a pillow. Azula does not know why she is watching her like that.

She is hot. It is as simple as that.

* * *

Ty Lee apparently can also cook.

She turns the stores of canned food that the long-dead owners of this house had into some kind of soup that does not taste terrible. Azula is at first reluctant to eat it, but she caves in. She is hungry and tired and wishes she were back in Ba Sing Se. But Azula tries not to think that way.

"No, Fluffy," Ty Lee snaps. "My soup."

Azula looks at Lucky. She cannot believe she has a fucking kitten to take care of. And it isn't like she is just going to get rid of a baby cat that keeps curling up on her lap. It is a glimmer of not grotesque-and-violent in Azula's life. That probably counts for something, even to a person who is usually calling that grotesque violence.

Sokka stands up and takes his soup to go patrol.

Azula cannot believe these people.

"No, no, Fluffy, stop it!" Ty Lee cries out.

* * *

Azula does not ask many questions of Ty Lee and Sokka. They do not seem very important to her, to be honest, and she could not care less about their business. She sits with Mai and Lucky, away from those two.

The room seems to be divided in half by an invisible barrier. The two groups do not trust each other enough to get close.

"Where do we go next?" Mai asks, flipping a switchblade open and shut.

Azula had lost herself in the sound for a moment. "We go wherever we want. We're running for a reason."

They were not shamed and purged from their faction.

They ran away, and Azula still does not want to face that fact. She just wants to continue enjoying being a bandit. She wants to brutalize people and take whatever she pleases without her overbearing father controlling every aspect of her life.

This world is a fine place for outlaws.

These two, however, seem like the _heroic_ type. The girl just rescued kittens, and despite being hot, Azula regards her with distaste. That body is not worth the pretty voice and 'sweet heart' that comes with it. The boy already disgusts Azula.

Mai seems indifferent.

As usual.

"So, are we gonna swap scary stories?" Ty Lee asks so _cutely._ Azula needs out of this horrible trap. "What?"

"Being here is scarier than anything I could make up," Azula says, leaning back beside Mai. Their arms gently brush against each other.

"Are you two an… item?" Ty Lee asks, invading privacy like it is no big deal.

"No. Just friends," Azula curtly replies.

Azula would call she and Mai best friends if she were not dealing with enemies. Or, potential enemies at least. Mai has always been the only person who didn't want to use Azula as a pawn; Mai was already a pawn, and neither of them enjoyed it. They commiserated and became close. Close enough for Mai to follow Azula when she snuck out of the walls of Ba Sing Se, never to return.

 _"This world was made for you. You belong here."_ Mother. Thought she was a monster.

And Azula didn't care that she lost her mother to real monsters.

"That's cute," Ty Lee says and Azula can tell Ty Lee is honest. Strange. Kind of disgusting. "And you two are headed…?"

"Nowhere, as far as you're concerned," Azula replies icily.

"I'm making small talk," Ty Lee complains.

"Asking questions like that is not small talk. We're not friends or allies; we're just in an unfortunate situation," Azula says and Ty Lee averts her eyes. Good.

And Sokka says, "Don't talk to them in the first place," which seems to piss Ty Lee off, but she smiles at him and nods.

Azula finds them interesting, although she would never say it. She has not interacted with someone she was not brutalizing since she left Ba Sing Se. Perhaps that is a tolerable change of pace for one night.

Mai is asleep. Or at least pretending to be. Azula studies her breathing and can tell she is just trying to avoid talking to anyone.

She probably has the right idea.

This world is not made for the girl Azula checks out when no one is looking.

And her tough hero husband does not belong here.

* * *

"Did you sleep?" Azula asks Mai as soon as sunlight creeps through the cracks in the barricades.

"Like a baby sabertoothed mooselion," Mai replies sarcastically. She has dark circles under her eyes that make her look less alive than the zombies.

Azula herself got about thirty minutes, but it is enough to take on the day. Or at least enough to find another hideaway. She does not sleep much now that she is outside of safe walls. Walls with heavily armed men and stone reinforced with metal. No one gets into Ba Sing Se; no one gets out.

Except for Azula and Mai.

They got out.

Azula shoves her blankets into Mai's hands and stands up. She stretches and cracks her knuckles before looking over to see Ty Lee quietly packing up her hairbrush and mirror. That girl is kidding herself about the wasteland.

Mai sighs as she packs her best friend's belongings and says, "You don't have to be such a bitch, princess."

"Don't call me that," Azula replies. She doubts Mai will listen, even though Azula is the leader of their two person gang. "I hate that nickname."

"We're leaving," says Sokka, as if Azula cares.

"Good for you," Azula says. They can detract attention if there is still a mess outside. This place does not sound or smell overrun, and the Red Monsoons know what they are doing, but Azula dislikes taking chances.

" _We're_ going to Ba Sing Se," Ty Lee says and Azula feels paranoia prickling on her skin.

Why does Ty Lee so badly want to know where Azula and Mai are off to?

Most importantly, why has Azula not explained to them that they can't go there?

"We came from Ba Sing Se," Azula forces herself to say. Honesty is hard for her but the situation calls for it. "There is no Ba Sing Se anymore. Only the inner wall still stands. It's reinforced but only the Agni Kai Tribe is inside. Everyone else might as well steer clear because the outside of that strong wall is completely overrun."

Sokka steels himself and tries not to show his shock and pain. He sets his hand on his bent machete as if that can make the city magically become a haven for refugees by doing it. Azula does not get people out here who have any hope.

"We don't know if Katara was there," Ty Lee says, grabbing his arm. "We were just making a wild guess."

"Where are you two headed then? Is there another stronghold?" Sokka demands.

Again with that question. Azula should have known it was not just Ty Lee being her weird, optimistic self.

Azula smirks. "There are only two types of people in this wasteland that used to have laws. The ones who enjoy the freedom to kill, and the ones who get killed. Mai and I are the former; you two are the latter."

Sokka just nods, not wasting his time with a fight. He is not fighting girls either. That would be fucked up.

Ty Lee makes a different decision.

She grabs Azula by the wrist and says, "You're wrong. You've seen us fight. You saw me dodge that arrow. You know we'd make a really good team."

"You have guts," Azula says, brushing Ty Lee's hand off of her. "I'll give you that. We'll do a little trial run."

Sokka scoffs, but one look from Ty Lee makes him sigh.

He may mistrust these girls, but he is smart enough to know that an alliance with them would not hurt.

"You can come in our truck," he says, "if we make it back to the highway alive."

Ty Lee beams at him and gently releases Azula.

"I'll get the kitties packed up," she says.

* * *

 **AN:** The kittens don't die. I promise.


End file.
